Moving In

All hands on deck Monday...we are finally moving into the new office building here at Moosehorn NWR.

Our work days are Tuesday-Thursday, but we are here today to help with the move.

Peggy was first to move in.  She had been fretting for some time, but we all helped her make her nest and she just told me she is very happy with her new office, especially after she got her wall hangings in place.

Brent, federal officer, was proud of this new glass case to display some of the seized items.  He asked for my help and we had fun arranging the goodies.

The red material, with a value of $5000.00, is made from Tibetan antelope.

The briefcase is made from elephant hide. The carvings are ivory.

This is the reception desk and you can imagine what it looked like during the move. Things were piled high as it seemed to be the catch all!!  I could not wait to get that cleared off and tidied up.



The picture collage on the wall is one of two Bill asked me to put together several years ago and they wanted it placed there.

Monday was the hardest of the moving days. Pizzas were brought in for lunch...this is the conference room.

There were boxes of kitchen stuff dropped on the table which I quickly put away.  No picture of the kitchen though.

This brochure rack is just opposite the reception desk, and now it is getting filled.

As everyone was taking care of their own office, I arranged all the office supplies and organized them in this storage closet.  All the items were in boxes lined up in the hall next to the closet and it seemed a little daunting at first, but little by little the job got done.  Wallace helped Mike get the shelving in.

This is only half the closet in this picture.

We carried boxes of brochures down to the basement and organized this area...a work in progress.

Many boxes of binders, books, plaques and pictures were dropped in front of the stove, and I put those things away.  The committee needs to finalize where they want pictures and plaques placed.

Steve came up with some ideas of more signs for Wallace to rout and he got right to work on those.

We all gathered on the back porch for a hot dog lunch on Thursday.  

We saw a moose wandering down below.

Prior to this lunch, Bill asked if I would take the YCC kids on a tour of the refuge.  They wanted to see James Pond which is on the far side of the refuge.  Upon turning around, I got the van stuck!!! Fire came to our rescue.  We did see James Pond though.

After four days of moving, everyone seems to be settling in and the place looks great!!!

Until next time...

Fishing Derby 2014

The day started out wet and foggy when 6 staff, 3 volunteers and 2 students met at 8:00 am to caravan to Cobscook Bay State Park where we hold the event. 

Although it is a state park, the land is owned by the refuge...the state just "rents" it.

Wallace and I were given a $500.00 gift certificate to purchase all the food and drink...we planned on 120 people. The friends group did not participate this year, and I might add, we did just fine without them!!!

70 children registered to fish, add parents and grandparents which makes a good crowd. 

The pond was high with water this year, so the kids had to fight the grass.

After rules were given and the fog horn sounded, they cast out and within 5 minutes we had our first fish on.

The kids are real excited and come early to get their favorite spot.

There were some BIG trout this year. This one was almost a pound. The little boy was fun to watch, and he was not afraid to touch the fish.

Wallace grilled the "red" wieners (a Maine thing), chips and cookies are laid out on the table with soft drinks on ice.

People start eating early, and we had plenty for them to eat!!! 

The two Mikes also took turns on the grill.

Maury, biologist, has served for 40 years. He is in charge of weighing the fish. Each child can catch their limit and then they are weighed to determine the winner in each age category.

Maury was recently presented an award for his service to fish and wildlife.

We not only feed everyone, the pond is stocked with the fish and we even supply the earthworms and poles.

Here we are doling out 6 worms per child.

Time is up...people have been fed...prizes are given out as we yell out..."hot dogs, get your hot dogs here".

We had food and drink leftover...we plan on having another picnic on moving day!!!


The fishing derby was a huge success, with everyone pitching in and helping out.

Until next time...

Another Day in Paradise

I awoke at 4:00 am to a Magnolia Warbler singing.  Next a Chipping Sparrow joined in.  Made coffee, then took it outside to listen to the cacophony of songs...the birds started early this morning.  A White-throated Sparrow started singing in the distance, then a Black-throated Green Warbler woke up, joined by an Ovenbird.  It's fun to see how many birds can be identified by song.

We have been seeing bears lately, and evidence of moose on the trails.

A moose was hit by a vehicle and had to be put down! That was close to the refuge.

Nodding Trillium, Lily of the Valley, Clintonia, Canadian Mayflower, Bunchberry, Starflower, and Blue-eyed Grass are all blooming on the Charlotte Trail (my favorite trail). The apple and cherry trees are finished blooming and now putting on fruit for the wildlife.

Wallace was busy working on roads while I purchased barrels and potting soil for the flowers we just purchased. I filled 9 barrels with flowers...4 went to the new office building which has yet to be moved into.

Thursday, we took an ATV over to Bangor to be worked on. We got the approval from Bill to stop next door to pick up a toilet for our rig. We are wondering what's next to break down! This toilet has been an issue with quite a few people, including Mark and Teri. Mark, we bought a Bravura...that is what we had in our other rig and never had a problem. Hopefully, they are made the same. 

We found a fellow who came to the refuge and installed all new equipment to get our dish working again...now we have tv!!!

We were given these moose steaks...not quite a New York strip, but they were tasty.

Until next time...

Our First Week Back

It was really great when we reached this point. We are HERE. 

Day one was our staff meeting.  Afterwards, Bill spent the rest of the morning visiting with us. Bill is the refuge manager, and we have worked under his supervision since we started coming here...our 7th year back.

After lunch, I washed the hummingbird feeders and made up a batch of sugar water, while Wallace went with the guys to clean off Ice House Road...preparing it for a tour during the birding festival.

We assisted Bill with a "Birds Have Tools" program for the school kids which was held at Cobscook Learning Center.

This child was dressed in a hawk costume while Bill talked about their tools: talons, beak, how they use their tails and wings.

After that, we took them out on trails where we had hung 16 bird pictures for them to find. We again gave them more information about each bird. A little exercise for the body and mind. We did this activity last year and the kids seem to really have a good time.

I cleaned the little visitor cabin and it is now ready for visitors.

This is the new headquarters building which has not been moved into yet. They are waiting for the final inspection, and phones still need to be put in. We will be helping them with that eventually. It is really nice.


They had snow here just the week before we arrived. We picked up limb debris, then I hopped on the John Deere. Like Judy says, it's great to see the way it looks afterwards. Wallace gets to do the weed eating.

The temps have been in the 50's with frost one night, and the black flies are a real nuisance.

Bill has asked us to monitor wildlife at the Edmunds Division which is another part of the refuge about 40 minutes from here. We will do that one day each week during our work week. The most exciting thing was getting a Gray Jay.

This photo is not as good as Sharon's. He was quite a ways off and terrible light.

Hopefully we will see something more exciting eventually.


When I stepped out the other day, I noticed an Ermine scampering about. It was moving too fast for a photo, so this will have to do.

Until next time...

Moosehorn or Bust

And we really thought we would BUST!!!

We had some enjoyable stays at COE parks with the last one near Carthage, Tn.  It was hard leaving there (we stayed 6 nights) as we knew the next 3 days would be a grueling journey...all one night stands.

Our first night, after 346 miles, we stayed at Flying J in Wytheville, Va.  The second night, after 536 terrible miles, we stayed at Wal-Mart in Milford, Pa.  The road conditions were absolutely horrific. Pothole, Pennsylvania!!!  I'm sure glad we changed out those Towmax tires for Goodyear's on the rv before we left Attwater. Our 3rd night was spent in Cabela's (Maine) parking lot right off the interstate, 331 miles.  Traveling through Connecticut was a real nightmare traffic wise.

But, we are now here (Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge) with the final push being 240 miles.  This trip is about 2000 miles in total.

After setting up, I noticed this woodchuck whose burrow is nearby. I think we brought it out of hibernation as you can see...the full stretch.

I hope it stays around as this area can be a little busy at times.

We checked in at headquarters for keys, hugs, and handshakes. It's so good to be settled! The black flies are out in force with temps in the 50's.

Since April, we have not had our dish tv...WOW, I thought we could live without it...wrong! We had a problem while we were at Attwater NWR. We don't know what happened, it just stopped working. Probably the antiquated equipment. Anyway, we contacted someone who would come out to fix everything and now we are back in business. Whoopie!!

This is our 7th year back...please refer back to past blogs to read about all the things we have done as I don't want to repeat the same things. I'm sure we will find new things to do while we are here.

Until next time...

We Have Arrived

We made it although the last three days were very hectic...putting up with potholes in Pennsylvania and Connecticut, I'm surprised we didn't have problems with flat tires, etc.  The traffic is so bad in Connecticut, I'm already dreading the drive back!!!

We can't use our jetpack here on the border of Canada, so our blogging will be limited.

Until next time...

From T to Shining T

Oh, I know that is not the way the song goes!!!

From Texas to Tennessee.

Wallace woke with a flare...not crowing like a rooster, but pretty darn close.  He was ready to start the day...another state house.

Being so close to Nashville, we thought it only fitting to visit here. This is one of the things we never did when visiting in the past. We thank our good friend David for getting us started on this quest.

The Tennessee State Capitol was completed in 1859, and was the design of William Strickland...Greek Revival architecture. Tennessee was the 16th state to join the Union, June 1, 1796.

Now this is unique. When Strickland died, it was his desire to be buried here...right on top of the cornerstone.

He considered this building to be his crowning achievement.

We entered by way of this tunnel (the crypt).

There are three levels: the crypt (ground floor), the basement (the executive floor) and the first floor (the legislative floor).

The elevator took us to the first floor staircase. The frescoes on the ceiling are pretty, but the gasolier caught my eye.

The staircase which took us up to the 2nd floor, has a bullet-nicked handrail that we located. A bullet was fired from above over a bitter fight over the ratification of the 14th Amendment in 1866.

The House of Representatives where there are Roman spears just above the flags, symbolizing strength in unity.

The columns (not pictured) are 21 feet tall and are Nashville limestone.

The Senate meets here. We found the gasolier to be the most interesting thing in this room.

We got a birds eye view of both chambers from the gallery which gave us the closest look at the gasolier.

The gasolier is original, done in 1855. There are 30 globes decorated with Indian corn, elk heads, cotton blossoms and tobacco leaves. Of course we had to locate all of them, the hardest one to find were the elk heads. Can you see them? The next picture will help.

Aha, finally!!! You can also see, they need a little dusting as there are spider webs.

These kind of things are the things we find interesting...each gasolier was different, and beautiful.

We stopped in at the State Library, another interesting room with the spiral staircase and balcony rail with portrait medallions of writers and famous political figures of the time. These were made from cast iron.

No dome to look up into...theirs is a cupola. 

Of course there is the Capitol Grounds to explore and you just have to find the cornerstone where the architect is buried, and the elk heads, and the bullet-nicked banister.

We explored it thoroughly and enjoyed yet another state house.

And yes Sharon, we found the bell!!!

For those who are not aware...there was a replica of the Liberty Bell sent to each state to promote the Korean War bond drive.

We shopped at Camping World for a few supplies, walked through a few motorhomes as this is in our future plans, finished off the trip with a steak lunch at nearby Logan's Steakhouse, which made a perfect ending to a perfect day.

Until next time...